


movietime

by vhscassette



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-09 04:46:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14709345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vhscassette/pseuds/vhscassette
Summary: tien and yamcha go on their first date!





	movietime

"What's the interest in seeing moving pictures on a screen? I'm in real life; my life is already about as strange as any 'movie' could get," Tien said with an almost disbelieving tone of voice.

 

"Because!" Yamcha explained, "Movies are an interesting way to see stories! Besides, it's like seeing someone else's life story without even knowing them!" Tien rolled his eyes.

 

"I can see that, Yamcha, but I'm not-," Tien paused, carefully thinking over his words, "I don't find interest in material such as that, whether it's in book or movie form. I appreciate it, but I'd prefer to work on-"

 

"I don't want to watch the movie alone, okay?" Yamcha interrupted, voice gentle with a quiet plead. Tien suddenly understood the implication of this and froze, tried hard not to get embarrassed, and re-thought over this.

 

Yamcha = Tien's.. boyfriend/rival/best friend.

 

Yamcha inviting Tien to the movies = Obviously wanted Tien to be with him in a casual scenario.

 

Tien, upon being invited to the movies = Unsure if this is a date or Yamcha being thoughtful.

 

Tien = Regardless, definitely not a wimp.

 

"How much are tickets?" Tien asked, trying to ignore the slow prickles of heat on his face.

 

* * *

 

 

"Mr. Popo?! What the hell are you doing here?!" Yamcha loudly exclaimed upon seeing the eternally relaxed black being at the concessions stand. Tien was a bit surprised, too; it wasn't every day that you'd see another fellow friend in a place like this; or at least, everyone except Bulma and her little family.

 

"Kami said it would make me a well-rounded individual to have social experience with humans," Mr. Popo said politely with a smile, "and I find that selling these items has a positive influence on me. What may I help you with today?

 

Uh," Yamcha started, still flabbergasted, "I'm really not sure. Tien, what do you want?"

 

"I-uh, what do they have..? I've never been to a cinema, Yamcha," Tien shyly whispered back, embarrassed at how little he knew about social life. He may have known how to kill someone with two pickles and a handful of gravel, but it didn't help the burn of shame knowing just how much he missed growing up. Yamcha noticed this and softened his glance.

 

"Tien, relax, I got you!" Yamcha said, leaning closer to him to put a hand on his shoulder and pointing at an advertisement for popcorn. "Look; that's popcorn. Typical movie food right there. It's, like, crunchy and salty but light at the same time. Really popular snack food at theaters; y'can't go wrong, I'd think. Unless you're allergic to popcorn, but you're not, so you'd be good," Yamcha explained, Tien blinking with surprise at the ad. Tien kept watching the advertisement, wondering how exactly popped corn managed to be a popular snack, when the ad changed to some candy he's never seen before. Tien then looked to his feet, unsure of what to do.

 

"Huh. Never actually had popcorn before," Tien muttered quietly to himself. He'd seen popcorn, sure, but he never really had the chance nor desire to have some for himself. Popcorn was.. 'typical movie food', according to Yamcha. Tien could do that.

 

"Got a plan, Mr. Man?" Yamcha asked, eyebrows raised in smug curiosity. Tien rolled all three eyes and sighed.

 

"Give me popcorn," Tien requested politely, a tone of annoyance directed towards Yamcha.

 

Yamcha quickly leaned in and whispered with a tad of urgency, "Small, medium, or large sizes, Triclops."

 

"Small! I'll have a.. small popcorn," Tien said, first determined before slowly turning into shy embarrassment as his eyes trailed off to the corner of the concessions. His face burned and _damn_ this dumb situation; in his defense, it was his first social situation in a place like this, but in his offense, _it was his first social situation in a place like this._

 

"Certainly! And you, Yamcha?" Mr. Popo politely questioned, big eyes blinking gently much like an eternally gentle giant.

 

"I'm good. I'll share with Tien," Yamcha replied, grinning devilishly at Tien.

 

"What?!" Tien loudly began to argue, "Why can't you get your own food?" 

 

It wasn't that Tien minded sharing, but in particular sharing with Yamcha seemed.. odd. Odd in the way that made his stomach flip, and Tien didn't want any embarrassing situations from his own stupidity. 

 

"Make his popcorn a medium, please," Yamcha giggled to Mr. Popo as Tien glared at him, nearly forgetting that he was in a public area and, in fact, could _not_ start sparring with Yamcha as flustered retaliation.

 

Mr. Popo, of course, acted passively and blinked a bit, shocked, before nodding and beginning to make the duo their requested popcorn. Tien kept glaring at Yamcha, frown etched on his face in vague annoyance, Yamcha keeping his glance with a smile.

 

Stare.

 

Stare.

 

Stare.

 

Yamcha stuck his tongue out in good humor at him, and Tien squinted in frustrated, flustered annoyance before glancing away with a huff. For not the first time in his life, Tien asked himself how the hell someone as handsome as him could end up being such an idiot.

 

* * *

 

 

The movie was of the horror genre and appeared to incorporate quite a bit of psychological fear. All things considered, Tien wasn't 'scared', but more along the lines of 'vaguely disturbed;' the feeling of the protagonist being followed did intimidate Tien slightly. Feeling trapped in a cage reminded Tien one times too many about his general life situations, and he wondered if that was the intended feeling the creators wanted to give off.

 

Yamcha, of course, was another story. He'd try to play it off like the movie didn't scare him at all, commenting about the protagonist's outfit or the plot, but ended up nearly jumping out of his seat at jumpscares. Tien couldn't help but roll his eyes and chuckle at this extreme display of 'coolness' Yamcha would try to pull. What a moron. Tien kept his hands holding the popcorn bucket which he still hadn't touched yet.

 

Yamcha, cooling down after a particularly fearful moment of the movie, peered over to Tien's bucket of popcorn and proceeded to unceremoniously grab a handful and munched on it, crunching loudly. Tien's eyes scrunched in annoyance as Yamcha chewed loudly, gulped, grabbed another handful and repeated. And repeated.

 

"Uh, can y'lower it down? I can't hear the damned film you brought me here to watch," Tien hissed upon noticing some eyes from a few seats ahead peering back at them. Yamcha swallowed his popcorn and raised his eyebrows at some filmgoers who were watching, unaware that he was being so loud.

 

"Oh shit, my bad," Yamcha whispered back, causing Tien to roll his eyes and wonder why Yamcha brought him out here in the first place. Yamcha smiled shyly, Tien glancing at him, before they brought their attention back to the movie.

 

The movie continued. The protagonist was attempting to escape from a completely dark and silent hospital and was currently exploring some of the patient's empty rooms for a locked door key, their flashlight in hand. Tien found interest in the resilience of the protagonist, the somewhat determined factor in a situation that appeared all but grim. He wondered if they would ever find a key to their salvation or simply remain stuck, facing nothing but the inevitability of death. For some reason, Tien's heart ached with some sort of familiarity.

 

Yamcha's hand suddenly touched Tien's and gripped. "Dude," Yamcha mumbled and pointed with a smirk, "check out the kids about six rows down in the right corner." Tien glanced over and saw two kids, a boy and a girl definitely around high school age, sitting side by side. The boy kept trying to.. put his arm around her slyly as if she wouldn't notice. The girl, whether it was intentional or not, kept fidgeting and startling the boy, causing him to quietly but quickly whip his arm back to his seat.

 

Tien leaned into Yamcha and quietly whispered in confusion, "What are they doing?"

 

"Probably a first date. Ah, young love," Yamcha smiled, an air of nostalgia smudging onto his features. Tien glanced at him, confusion still swirling in his head.

 

"Is that, like.. normal for a first date..? Awkwardly putting an arm around your date..? Then why didn't the girl do it?" Tien questioned quietly. Yamcha chuckled a little and put an arm around Tien himself before looking at him smugly, raising an eyebrow and saying nothing. Tien blinked, movie temporarily forgotten, expecting Yamcha to say something and growing red when he didn't.

 

"What?" Tien whispered, unsure of what Yamcha was doing or if the implications were indeed intended. Yamcha smiled wider.

 

"People put arms around each other when they wanna be close, right? The kid tried putting his arm around her. Get the picture?" Yamcha said quietly, nudging into him twice for emphasis. Tien blinked a bit and nodded before beginning to think, his mind slowly spinning into branches of possibilities.

 

The duo slowly leaned back into their seats, Yamcha's arm still firmly around Tien's shoulder as Tien's face burned. He glanced at Yamcha, the movie's lights gently glowing on Yamcha's scars. Tien couldn't help but feel an odd sense of safety, of something that he'd been trying to grasp ever since he was a little boy stuck with Shen and Tao. He wanted to hold this feeling and grip it until it burst and covered his fingers with some sort of numbing, life-altering comfort.

 

The movie rolled on as Tien leaned into Yamcha and slid one of his own arms awkwardly around him. Yamcha chuckled and shook his head, a light red tinge on his own face.

 

"You're such a sap, Tien," Yamcha muttered with a fond smile, eyes still following the movie.

 

The protagonist found a room key.

  
  



End file.
